Receiver Calvin Ridley (3) is greeted by Alabama tight end Irv Smith Jr. (82) after bringing Alabama within an extra point of tying the game in the fourth quarter of January's national championship game in Atlanta.(Photo11: Albert Cesare )

“You’ve got to make a judgment at the end of the day on those,” SEC head of officials Steve Shaw said. “That’s a judgment call.”

Buy Photo

Tua Tagovailoa (13) saved the day for Alabama in the playoff title game.(Photo11: Mickey Welsh / Montgomery Advertiser)

At SEC Media Days, you have several conversations with fellow journalists about football. A common topic here in Atlanta has been Tua Tagovailoa, who threw three touchdowns as a true freshman in leading Alabama to a 26-23 comeback overtime win over Georgia in the national title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

When the defending SEC champion Bulldogs were here, junior safety J.R. Reed was asked about Tagovailoa’s game-winning touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith on second-and-26 from the Alabama 41.

“We don’t worry about that,” he said. “We finally put it behind us. You guys, the media, always bring it up, but in the locker room and as a team, it’s already gone behind us.”

That led me to wondering if Reed was involved in that final play.

He wasn’t.

Looked at it on YouTube and Reed was on the opposite side from where Smith caught the touchdown.

Staying on YouTube during the lunch break, I checked out Tagovailoa’s second touchdown pass on fourth-and-4 in the fourth quarter with Georgia leading 20-13. Rolling left, Tagovailoa, a lefty, threw the ball to the end zone and receiver Calvin Ridley somehow caught it in traffic.

I had just debated about who Tagovailoa was trying to hit.

I thought it was Ridley, and Tagovailoa was throwing to a spot, but a fellow journalist with far greater knowledge of Alabama football and who notices details thinks the pass was intended for Harris.

Lined up wide to the left, Harris runs a pattern in which he cuts right into the end zone. I never really noticed Harris because my eyes have always been fixed on Ridley making this amazing catch.

Buy Photo

Calvin Ridley catches a touchdown pass to bring Alabama within an extra point of tying the game in the fourth quarter against Georgia in January.(Photo11: Albert Cesare/Montgomery Advertiser)

So I decided to look at the play again from the start — and noticed something else.

Harris appears to get an early start on the play.

I know this was topic of discussion days after the game. I realized the importance of the play, but never thought how that play changed the course of the game — and history.

Tagovailoa signaled for Harris to leave the backfield to line up wide to the left. Harris does that, stops, sits in his stance and started his running motion before Bradley Bozeman’s shotgun snap to Tagovailoa.

The SEC coordinator of football officials kicked off last Tuesday’s action talking about rule changes. Later that afternoon, I asked him a couple of questions about the officiating in the title game.

First, it was a Big Ten officiating crew.

Second, Shaw said the SEC didn’t review the game. He said the conference officiated five bowl games last season. Add Shaw’s duties with the Sun Belt, which refereed three bowl games, and his plate was full.

“My focus was reviewing those eight that we officiated,” Shaw said. “All the bowls are done with neutral officials. We were more focused on those eight games.”

Shaw said if an SEC coach calls and asks if him a call was correct or not, the league will give him an answer, but doesn’t review games officiated by other conferences.

That led me to asking if it’s a hard call to make on Harris moving forward before the snap.

Shaw first explained if it was an interior lineman, “any movement” before the snap is a foul.

“If he lifts his hand off the ground, it’s a foul,” Shaw said.

Then he discussed the receivers and backs, saying they’re allowed “certain movement” on a play.

“If he false starts or jumps before the snap, we should shut it down and it’s a penalty, but they’re allowed to move,” Shaw said. “Those interior guys can’t, but those outsides guys are and that’s part of the judgment of it that you’ve got to see if he did false start. Did he make a move that simulated action at the snap or is he just readjusting his body?”

If Harris had been whistled for a false start, Alabama would’ve faced a fourth-and-9 at the Georgia 12.

With 3:56 left, maybe Alabama tries a field goal to pull within four points, but Andy Pappanastos had missed a 40-yard field goal in first quarter.

Then again, it would’ve been a 29-yarder and he’d already made two (43 and 30 yards) in the second half.

Maybe Alabama picks up the first and winds up scoring a touchdown to tie the game anyway, but what’s more certain is Harris moved before the snap on what was the game’s biggest play before the final one.